“Lawsuits, if brought by private attorneys, can be even more dangerous for senior care providers because of fee shifting and the collective and class actions, which means you may have a whole host of former and current employees seeking compensation under the wage and hour statutes,” Goldberg Segalla’s Caroline J. Berdzik said in an interview with Risk Conversations: A Senior Living Podcast. “Also, there’s little insurance coverage, if any, available for employers who have a department of labor audit or are sued in a class or collective action, which obviously should cause concerns.”

In the interview, Caroline, chair of Goldberg Segalla’s Employment and Labor, Health Care, and Long-Term Care groups, goes into depth about employment and labor law issues affecting senior living providers and what providers can do to help mitigate exposure.

“So there are things that employers can do to mitigate against these types of common claims,” Caroline said. “Some of the things we recommend are reviewing your job descriptions on a frequent basis to make sure they accurately reflect the duties of the position. Making sure people are not working off the clock, that they are actually relieved from duties while taking meal periods. In states like New York, for example, that’s extremely important.”

LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST HERE:

“Understanding the Workplace: Identifying and Avoiding Common Labor and Employment Issues in Senior Living,” Risk Conversations: A Senior Living Podcast, November 19, 2020

MORE ABOUT GOLDBERG SEGALLA’S CAROLINE J. BERDZIK:

Caroline J. Berdzik, a partner based in Goldberg Segalla’s Princeton office and a member of the firm’s most senior leadership, devotes her practice to helping businesses, organizations, and management navigate the panoply of employment law issues, from proactive counseling through alternative dispute resolution and trial. She represents companies in diverse industries such as health care, transportation, retail, construction, insurance, and finance, as well as non-profit organizations and educational and religious institutions.